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Revision as of 20:57, 9 September 2002 by JeLuF (talk | contribs) (from 1911 encyc)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Floor (from 0ld English for, a word common to many Teutonic languages, cf. Dutch floer, and German Flur, a field, in the feminine, and a floor, masculine), generally the lower horizontal surface of a room, but specially employed for one covered with boarding or parquetry. The various levels of rooms in a house are designated as "ground-floor", "first-floor", "mezzanine-floor", etc.
The principal floor is the storey which contains the chief apartments whether on the ground- or first-floor; in Italy they are always on the latter and known as the piano nobile. The storey below the ground-floor is called the "basement-floor", even if only a little below the level of the pavement outside; the storey in a roof is known as the "attic-floor". The expressions one pair, two pair, etc., apply to the storeys above the first flight of stairs from the ground (see also carpentry).
Taken from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica